The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1887-11-09
A LONDON COSTERMONGER.
A PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE
BRITISH METROPOLIS.
His Fondness for Street Brawis-
His Distinct Dress - The over.
worked CoatermouRer Pony.


worked Costermonger Pony.
The costermonger Is a peculiar charac
ter In London life, says +. Crawford in n
letter TO the New York World lie j.
nearly always London born, and has no
knowledge OF anything outside Of the
narrow section Of London where he lives.
In many parts Of London there are sec.
tions occupied by people who have never
been outside of their immediate neigh.
borhoods. am told 10y old Londoners
that in the East End there are thousands
Of people who have never been as fai
west in London as Charing Cross.
The London costermOnger generally
wears fixed kind Of dress. Ills hat IS
alway black derby, rusty from rain and
weather. His coat is generally a rusty
black frock He rarely wears a waist
coat His trousers may be corduroy or
any kind Of the cheaper wooden patterns.
His shoes are thick soled and hobnailed.
He always wears a colored handkerchief
tied around his neck in place Of collar.
These handkerchiefs are always dirty,
except upon rare Sunday and holiday oc-
casions, when new ties are donned. These
handkerchiefs are always of u ianciiul
color, light blue and red being the IA.
vorites They are worn high up on the
neck, leaving a couple of inches Of dirty
neck showing between the handkerchief
and the greasy collar of the shambling
frock coat. The handkerchief is really
the badge Of the Order. This handkcr.
chief about the neck designates the char
acter and standing of man in England
as completely and thoroughly as il he
wore uniform prescribed by act Of Par
lament. The costermongers are men en-
gagged in street traffic of all kinds. They
are generally dealers in vegetables. They
begin with pushcarts, and if they are
prosperous and reach the climax Of their
ambition they become the owners OF small
two-wheeled wagons, drawn by little
donkeys or ponies. The strength and
endurance OF these small animals are phe-
nomenal. ! have seen from six to eight
grown people on costermonger's cart
being drawn at furious pace by pony
not much larger than good Newfound-
land dog.
The costemonger never gives his
pony any rest He works him during
the week in his business and uses the
wretched little animal on Sunday to give
his friends treat in the shape of ride
to some cockney resort in the suburbs.
The costermongers live in. the street.
They are never indoors except for eating
and sleeping. A very severe, driving
storm will sometimes force them into the
house, but they generally take refuge
under an awning or some gateway. They
are a hardy, tough, coarse-tibered people.
The are noisy and have perfect passion
for scenes of uproar and excitement. You
rarely ever hear of costermongers muir
dering any CT their associates or of their
using knives or pistols in their quarrels.
The / ne have . way Of pounding and kick
ing each other when engaged IL dis
putes, but are rarely arrested, as they
never seem to carry malice, and their
fights generally wind up in a good-na-
tured way. The costermOnger and his
female are very often the chief actors in
a street broil. When once a costermon-
ger has begun to keep company with n
costermonger female then she is consid-
cred his property. She speaks of him
as her man and she is spoken of as his
gal" saw dispute the other day be-
tween costermonger and his sweetheart
which was fairly illustrative of their
method of settling disputes.
1t was Sunday morning. The two had
started out evidently for a holiday. He
was in his best. He was a surly, heavy
jawed fellow, with black eyes, q short
nose and brawny, hairy fists. lie wore
little black derby hat, about three sizes
too small for his great, round head. His
handkerchief was the lightest of sky
blues. She was buxom, burly, of medium
height, dressed in true costermonger
style. Their dispute grew out of diff
ference of opinion as to where they
should spend the day She insisted on
going one way and he the other They
disputed for half a moment, and then he
turned around and deliberately gave her
a kick, which lifted her about six inches
from the sidewalk, to convince her that
his way was the best She turned quickly
and began kicking him in return. The
way she brought her number ten boots
around against his shins very soon CON
WINGED him that she was as strong at
that kind of argument as he They
kicked at each other for about five min
utes, the centre of delighted and cheer
ing crowd, and then the costermonger fe-
male by her skill in kicking carried the
day. In moment or two more he gave
up, grinned good naturedly, and the
two walked off together for a happy
Sabbath.